


So Don't Freak Out!

by Bubbly_Kandy



Series: Children AU [4]
Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: Emotional Manipulation, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, children au, shock therapy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-31
Updated: 2018-07-31
Packaged: 2019-06-19 02:13:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,641
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15500043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bubbly_Kandy/pseuds/Bubbly_Kandy
Summary: Franklin Alexander Mell-Heere didn't think that he and his brother needed help.Apparently, they do.





	So Don't Freak Out!

 

Frankie decided that God, or any other heavenly being that watched over the earth, hated him.

He woke up late, forgot to put in his contacts (which made him wear his glasses, which he _hated),_ and he was even more late for school because Zelda, who usually drove he and Teddy to school, was sick as a dog and could barely move from her bed.

He had to walk the mile and a half to school, dragging a whiny Teddy along because Teddy wanted Kirby to drive them, but what Teddy _doesn’t_ remember is how _bad_ Kirby is at driving, and Frankie didn’t want to die in a car crash, thank you very much. Their dads were out of the question too; they both were already at work, their tatay at a game development meeting and their daddy in his office at home, the door closed.

So, as anyone could see, Frankie was in a very bad mood.

He barely said ‘bye’ to Teddy before running from the middle school to the high school, which was thankfully on the other side of the road from the middle school. He got to his homeroom ten minutes after the tardy bell, his teacher rapping on his desk with his ruler and sharply asking where he was, not giving Frankie any time to answer before damn near yelling about how tardiness was _not_ excused, because Frankie was a freshman in high school and he needed to learn how to be _responsible,_ along with a whole bunch of other crap that was just empty words and guilt-tripping.

Frankie’s face was bright red as his teacher went on, and his blush deepened when he noticed Samantha, one of the most popular girls in freshman year and Frankie’s long-time crush, shooting him looks and whispering with her friends. He decided that the only way to not cry of embarrassment was to stare at his desk, counting in 2’s from one hundred down to zero.

He was at 50 when his teacher left his desk and went to the blackboard, sternly telling everyone to get their pencils and notebooks out and to turn to page 394 in their math books, please do one through three, and only do half of four.

The room was still full of muted whispers and giggles, and even though Frankie knew that, come on, this is high school, his tardiness was already old news and they _weren’t_ talking about him, he still pulled his hood up and plugged his earphones in so that he couldn't hear anyone.

At the blessed end of math, Frankie shoved all of his things in his backpack, knowing that Kirby would die of shock if she ever knew what he did, and he started to speed-walk to English.

However, before he could get there, he was (quite rudely) pulled into the music room, which had been abandoned ever since the beginning of his high school career. The door slammed, and his panicked mind briefly started remembering the third Harry Potter where Harry was being stalked by someone who everyone at Hogwarts thought was a murderer but who was instead his godfather before he processed who pulled him into the room.

_“Diana?”_

Diana nodded shortly, and Frankie noticed how… _different_ she looked. She looked like a model from a magazine, which was weird because real, live people weren’t supposed to look Photoshopped. She leaned against a wall, thoroughly blocking Frankie from the door, and preventing him from leaving.

“Frankie, buddy, how is it?” She asked, Frankie’s mental alarms going off. Diana never called him _buddy._ Maybe ‘short stack,’ maybe ‘dumbass,’ but never _buddy._

“Diana, I need to get to-” he tried to push past her, which must’ve ticked her off or something because she grabbed his shoulders and _slammed_ him into the counter, knocking the breath out of him and his anxiety to raise 100%. “Diana, please, I need to-”

“Shh!” She snapped, but then her eyes softened. “Oh, _Frankie,”_ she cooed, patting his cheek softly. “You have no idea what this is, right?”

“What are you doing?!” Frankie whined, his eyes catching the time. “I’m gonna be late for my next class, can’t we talk at lunchtime, or something?”

Diana’s eye twitched, and she dug a nail (since when did Diana let her nails grow?) Into his bicep.

“No, we need to talk _now.”_ She said, then pulled away a little to dig around in her purse. She pulled out a little baggie, which only held two small, grey pills, and shook the baggie a bit. “Do you know what these are, Frankie?”

_“Drugs?”_ Frankie asked incredulously, his eyes locked on the grey pills. “Diana, how did you-?”

“Doesn’t matter,” she said quickly, grabbing his wrist and forcing his hand open. “These are called _SQUIP’_ s. They help you do anything you ever wanted to do, Frankie! They can make you popular, help you get a date-” her tone grew to be a cold tease. “Help your little brother not need his hearing aids or epilepsy medicine…”

“Are you trying to _kill_ me?” Frankie squeaked, shifting towards the door. “Are you gonna kill me _and_ Teddy?!”

“No!” Diana yelled, shocking Frankie into silence. Diana grew calm again, pulling Frankie’s hand open to place the baggie in his hand. “These are _safe,_ I promise.” She slowly smiled, but what she must’ve seen as a kind, warm smile seemed more like the Joker from Batman. “These things-” she gestured at her head, “- they do whatever you want them to do! You just need to listen to them, and they’ll make your life _better._ They make you popular, they can get you on the honor roll, anything!”

“Diana, you’re _scaring_ me,” Frankie mumbled, barely loud enough to be audible. Diana obviously didn’t hear him, and she continued, getting more and more energetic. The tardy bell rang, but it seemed like Diana didn't notice it a bit.

“Frankie, do you remember me three months ago?” She asked, and Frankie was about to say ‘yeah, of course, your birthday was three months ago and we all went to your party’ before she answered the question for him. “I was _pathetic._ I did nerdy things, I could never hold a conversation-” she laughed, the laugh sounding slightly hysterical. “Hell! I was even considering suicide for a while! But-” before Frankie could process the whole _suicide_ comment, she lowered her voice and got closer to Frankie, almost in kissing range. “When I got this puppy-” she gestured at her head again, “that _all_ changed. I’m a better me, Frankie!” Her voice lowered even more. “Don’t you want to be a better you?”

Frankie swallowed thickly, feeling like Diana’s eyes were burning him alive. He felt the plastic in his hand, along with the (curiously warm) pills. He swallowed again.

“How much?”

Diana smiled widely, this smile looking purely genuine. It was a welcome change from the Joker smile.

“No cost! I’ll give you those two for free, I have more in my locker.” She said casually. Frankie looked at the pills again, his thumb pressing against a warm pill.

“Will they help Teddy?”

“Of course! I haven't had to take my meds ever since I got this. They improve all your senses- making a deaf person hear is a piece of cake to them.” Diana looked excited, her eyes glinting. “You’ll take them?”

“... Sure.” Frankie dragged out the word, being cut off as Diana hugged him tightly.

_“Good_ boy,” she said, petting his hair. “Good boy.”

“I’m not a dog,” Frankie replied, however his complaint was lost as Diana pushed him towards the door.

“Take the pills with regular Mountain Dew, okay?” She told him, adding “I don't know why, but just do it” to Frankie’s opening mouth. He closed his mouth, and checked the clock.

_“Shit!”_ Fifteen minutes past the tardy bell. He was _definitely_ getting a call home. “Okay, uh, thank you, I guess-” he crammed the pills in his pocket, starting to run towards his classroom. Miss Adams was going to _kill_ him.

\---

Frankie sat on his bed, staring at the baggie of pills and the two Mountain Dew’s he had bought with his last four dollars. The two boys were home alone- their dads had brought Zelda to the doctors, and they were going to drop her off at her and Kirby’s house, which they shared with Zelda’s girlfriend, Emma, and Kirby’s boyfriend, Emmett. Frankie and Teddy were going to be alone for a good three hours, so Frankie decided that both he and Teddy would take their SQUIP’s.

How was he supposed to get Teddy to take his? He couldn't just _give_ it to him- Teddy would freak out and tell their dads, grounding Frankie until he was 114 years old.

Maybe he could sneak it into Teddy’s drink? It was a _pill,_ and most pills that looked like the SQUIP were water-soluble…?

Diana would probably know. He sent a quick text to her, getting a reply back in a time that no human other than Diana could type.

_Dia: yeah u can dissolve them_

All right, then. Frankie kicked his conscience into a corner in his mind, repeating _‘its for his own good’_ mentally as he went downstairs to the kitchen with a pill and a bottle of Mountain Dew. He grabbed a cup from the drawer, filled it with Mountain Dew, and dropped the pill in, watching in fascination as it bubbled wildly and dissolved, leaving a small metal structure that could be easily swallowed. Frankie stirred the soda, then carried it back upstairs to Teddy’s room.

He opened the door, his stomach rolling nervously as he spotted his younger brother sitting on his bed, swaying his head to some music that was playing through his headphones as he read, his head resting on the belly of his Service Dog, Cinnamon. The sight was so innocent that Frankie froze, and he almost decided that it wasn't worth it until he spotted Teddy’s epilepsy medication, along with the red button Cinnamon was taught to press if Teddy was having a seizure in the middle of the night.

Frankie’s mind was set. He opened the door all the way, Cinnamon’s head shooting up to see who it was. Teddy followed his dog’s lead, taking his headphones off and pausing his music.

“What are you doing?” Teddy asked, his voice louder than usual. Frankie motioned for his to turn his hearing aids up, which Teddy did, looking curiously at Frankie.

“I bought us some Mountain Dew,” Frankie said, trying to control his shaky and cracking voice. Teddy, however, smiled widely, holding his hands out for the cup. Teddy drank the whole thing immediately, calming Frankie’s nerves.

“Thanks! Are you gonna drink yours?” Teddy asked, setting the cup on his bedside table. Frankie made a quiet squeak of agreement, running to his room, grabbing the pill and the second bottle of soda, putting the pill in his pocket.

It suddenly occurred to him that he used his brother as a _lab rat,_ but he pushed the thought down (the thought sounded too much like Zelda, and he couldn’t handle that at the moment). Frankie was gonna take a pill too, right? Anything that happened to Teddy happens to him too, no matter what.

He jogged back to Teddy’s room, seeing that Teddy was laying back on his dog, petting her softly. Frankie sat down, pulled the pill out of his pocket, uncapped the soda, and was about to take a drink before a loud _scream_ disrupted him.

He jumped up, seeing Teddy curled into a ball, his muscles shaking as he screamed again, Cinnamon starting to lick the top of his head and whining. Frankie scrambled onto Teddy’s bed, thinking _shit shit shit I made him have a seizure shit shit shit I need to call someone_ before Teddy calmed, uncurling slightly.

Frankie grabbed Teddy, hugging him tightly. _After a seizure always hug Teddy he doesn't know where he is so you need to tell him-_ Frankie’s thought process was disrupted as Teddy screamed again, longer and louder this time. Frankie loosened his hug, letting Teddy fall on his bed, Cinnamon sniffing Teddy all over and whining, licking his forehead in concern.

Then Teddy stopped screaming, just as quickly as he started. His eyes opened, and he made eye contact with Frankie, who was now hiccuping and crying in guilt, shame, and horror at what he did to Teddy.

Didn’t his dads _always_ tell him that Teddy was fragile? Didn't they _always_ say that Frankie had to be gentle with him and to not trigger a seizure?

Frankie rubbed his eyes free from tears, noticing that Teddy was now sitting up, and staring with a soft, curious expression at a corner of his room. Frankie started to choke out an apology, however, Teddy stopped him.

“Franklin. Can you _please_ tell me why Jonathan Van Ness is standing in the corner of my room?”  Teddy turned his gaze from the corner of his room to Frankie. “Oh, wait- what’s a SQUIP?”

“It’s- it’s, um…” Frankie stuttered, Teddy’s gaze going back to the corner- well, Jonathan Van Ness. Jonathan must’ve said something, because Teddy smiled, then giggled a little.

“Jonathan says that he’s a pill that can make me not need my hearing aids- Frankie!” Teddy’s eyes were bright. “Frankie, he says I don’t need my hearing aids!” Teddy reached up, undoing the aids from his ears as quickly as he could, then his eyes brightened more. _“I can hear! I can hear!”_

Teddy stood, then jumped up and down, his arms flapping so much it was like Teddy was trying to fly.

_“I can hear!”_

Frankie’s tears dried, and his sadness dissipated at Teddy’s joy. If Teddy was happy with his, then Frankie’s SQUIP wouldn’t be so bad, right? Diana was telling the truth!

Frankie scrambled for his SQUIP, Teddy sitting down hard and panting slightly, still smiling widely. When he noticed Frankie’s SQUIP, however, his smile faded.

“What’s tha- oh.” Teddy smiled again. “Take it! Maybe you’ll get Jonathan too!”

Feeling a little giddy, Frankie downed his SQUIP, taking a drink of Mountain Dew along with it. He waited a few seconds, then it felt like his brain was _splitting,_ causing him to curl up like Teddy did and scream.

_Calibration in process. Please excuse some mild comfort._

Frankie would’ve said “MILD?!” if he wasn't trying to not vomit all over Teddy’s room. Speaking of Teddy, Frankie could feel his hands on his face, and he could hear Teddy rapidly talking to Jonathan, and Frankie could imagine-

All of his thoughts were obliterated by the next wave of pain, along with the booming voice that seemed to come from the very middle of his brain.

_Calibration complete. Access procedure initiated._

The pain faded, and Frankie could see Teddy looking down at him in concern. Frankie tried to smile, however, that attempt was destroyed when the voice spoke again.

_Discomfort level may increase._

Frankie screamed, Teddy’s hands patting him on the face in an attempt to be comforting, but Teddy was more lightly slapping Frankie than giving him any actual comfort.

_Accessing neural memory._   
_Accessing muscle memory._   
_Access procedure complete._   
_Franklin Mell-Heere?_   
_Welcome, to your Super Quantum Unit Intel Processor._ _  
_ Your SQUIP.

The pain vanished, leaving nothing behind, not even a lingering ache. Frankie shot up, almost hitting Teddy, and his gaze went all around the room, looking for Jonathan Van Ness.

Instead, he found a man with a black suit with blue markings, with middle length black hair and a blue mask.

Teddy could have Jonathan Van Ness, but Frankie had _Nightwing_ as _his_ SQUIP.

Frankie was staring in awe as Nightwing smiled.

_Franklin!_

“I, um…” Frankie’s tongue felt heavy, and his heart raced. Nightwing tilted his head, then smiled again.

_Frankie! Welcome to your SQUIP. I see that I am-_ it quickly looked itself over. _\- Nightwing, from Detective Comics._

Frankie stared, unable to process what in the _hell_ was happening— Nightwing smiled at him, something in it making Frankie uneasy. “Oh,” he whispered, feeling slightly sick.

“Who is it?” Teddy asked, wide eyes peering up at Frankie.

“Nightwing,” Frankie responded, tugging at his shirt. Teddy huffed— he was always more of a Marvel guy himself, but it didn’t really matter now.

Nightwing spun on his heel, looking all around the room in a childish way. He- it- they- _Nightwing_ suddenly stopped, looking intently at Teddy. Frankie felt a surge of protectiveness wash over him, and he shifted closer to Teddy.

_Up up, down down, left, right, B, A, start!_

Teddy jolted, and Frankie felt a crackle of tingles run down his spine. Jonathan Van Ness appeared, and he and Nightwing shook hands formally.

_I, and in extension, you, can communicate with Mister Van Ness now._ Nightwing told him, then his eyes connected with Frankie’s, his eyebrow raising. _I can see you have some… interesting thoughts about me, Frankie._

Frankie blushed, averting his gaze. It wasn’t _his_ fault that Dick Grayson, and in extension Nightwing, helped him realize that he was pansexual, and it was _Dick’s_ fault for being-

His thoughts vanished as a crack of _something_ went down his spine, and he yelped and jumped, rubbing the back of his neck uncomfortably.

_Tell Theodore that we are leaving now._

“Teddy, I think I’m gonna go to my room.” Frankie was in shock at so easily he had followed the command, and when Nightwing strode towards him and held his hand out, Frankie stood from the bed and led the way from Teddy’s room to his. Once they were there, Frankie closed the door, and he stood awkwardly as Nightwing walked around him, muttering something that sounded like binary code under his breath.

“What did you do to me in Teddy’s room?” Frankie demanded, his voice louder than he wanted it to be. Nightwing clucked his tongue, shaking his head.

_You were getting off track so I… gave you a little nudge to get back on track._

“It hurt!” Frankie whined, feeling childish suddenly and quieting down. Nightwing hummed.

_I apologize._ He kept on walking around Frankie, and he went back to muttering in binary code.

Before Frankie could ask what it was doing, Nightwing stopped pacing, then, with a tone of voice that made Frankie’s cheeks bloom with vibrant color, said,

_Damn, boy, who dressed you this morning?_

“Myself?” Frankie’s voice cracked in the middle of his sentence, and he apologized quickly before adding, “I woke up late and I was in a hurry, so-”

_Hmm. Well, I guess a kid like you can pull off the ‘I threw this together’ look, but we definitely have to change your hair for that to work completely._

“Why are you trying to dress me different?” Frankie asked, feeling very much out of the loop and very uncomfortable at how intensely Nightwing was staring at him.

_Different-ly, Frankie. Not different, different-ly. Besides-_ Nightwing had gotten close enough to pat Frankie’s cheek, which felt like warm sparkles on his face. _I know what you want._

“You- what?”

_You feel ignored at home._ Nightwing said simply, Frankie’s stomach dropping. _You’re so jealous over Kirby and Zelda, and how_ _perfect_ _they are, and you think your dads love Teddy more than they love you- I know everything, Frankie,_ It said, Frankie curling into himself a bit.

_Did_ Frankie feel like that? Frankie always knew that being middle child stank, but he wasn’t jealous of his siblings. He just thought that when Teddy was born, he felt pushed aside, but that was _normal._ Besides, Teddy was more fragile than him. He understood why his dads did it, didn’t he?

… Didn’t he?

_See what I mean?_ Nightwing said sympathetically, looking like he really knew how Frankie was feeling. _You feel discarded, Frankie. You know your fathers love you, but you can’t get rid of that feeling- the feeling of worthlessness, right?_

Frankie nodded, his throat closing up and his nose and eyes stinging. He _knew_ his dads love him, but…

_He’s_ never involved with family meetings. _He_ isn’t allowed to give his money towards refilling Teddy’s medicine, despite countless nights of hearing his dads wonder how they were going to afford it. _He_ was always left out, no matter how much Teddy whined about how _he_ was left out of things.

Frankie felt a tear drip down his cheek, and he quickly wiped it away, because freaking _Nightwing_ was in front of him, and what kind of loser cried in front of _Nightwing?_

However, Nightwing merely walked towards him and hugged him tightly, warm sparkles and tingles running all over Frankie’s body and making him feel comfortable. The hug felt like his tatay’s, all soft and warm and filled the overwhelming feeling of love.

_It’s okay, Frankie._ Nightwing whispered, petting his hair. _I understand._

Frankie let himself drink in the feeling of safety, breathing deeply and then pulling away from the hug, Nightwing letting go of him easily and giving him a soft smile.

_Better?_ He asked, Frankie nodding and smiling back. _Good. I understand how you feel, Frankie. It doesn’t feel good, doesn’t it?_ Frankie shook his head, and Nightwing hugged him again before stepping back. The first feeling of uneasiness that Frankie had was completely gone, and Frankie realized that he completely trusted his SQUIP, despite the two only being together for about an hour or so.

_But, I can help!_ Nightwing said, perking up suddenly and swaying on its feet, acting more like Nightwing and putting Frankie at ease. _You just need to listen to me, okay? I can help you, I promise._

Nightwing held out a pinky, Frankie locking it with his own. Nightwing shook their pinkies together once before dropping them, and putting his arm around Frankie’s shoulders affectionately.

_So, let’s get to work!_

**Author's Note:**

> This story has a part 2! Its gonna take a while for me to write, so please bear with me!!


End file.
